diff --git a/ephemeral/startup/action.yml b/ephemeral/startup/action.yml
index e1f7f9a..2397a8e 100644
--- a/ephemeral/startup/action.yml
+++ b/ephemeral/startup/action.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ inputs:
     description: 'The lifetime of the ephemeral instance, how long the instance should be available for'
     required: false
     default: '30'
-  
+  configuration:
+    description: 'Configuration for the LocalStack environment to be created'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
 
 runs:
   using: composite
@@ -70,6 +73,19 @@ runs:
         autoLoadPod="${AUTO_LOAD_POD:-${{ inputs.auto-load-pod }}}"
         extensionAutoInstall="${EXTENSION_AUTO_INSTALL:-${{ inputs.extension-auto-install }}}"
         lifetime="${{ inputs.lifetime }}"
+        configuration='${{ inputs.configuration }}'
+
+        # Convert configuration to JSON format
+        IFS=',' read -r -a configArray <<< "$configuration"
+        envVarsJson=$(jq -n '{}')
+        for config in "${configArray[@]}"; do
+          IFS='=' read -r -a kv <<< "$config"
+          key=${kv[0]// /}  # Trim whitespace
+          value=${kv[1]// /}  # Trim whitespace
+          envVarsJson=$(echo $envVarsJson | jq --arg key "$key" --arg value "$value" '. + {($key): $value}')
+        done
+
+        envVarsJson=$(echo $envVarsJson | jq --arg autoLoadPod "$autoLoadPod" --arg extensionAutoInstall "$extensionAutoInstall" '. + {AUTO_LOAD_POD: $autoLoadPod, EXTENSION_AUTO_INSTALL: $extensionAutoInstall}')
 
         list_response=$(curl -X GET \
             -H "ls-api-key: ${LOCALSTACK_API_KEY:-${{ inputs.localstack-api-key }}}" \
@@ -85,7 +101,7 @@ runs:
             https://api.localstack.cloud/v1/compute/instances/$previewName)
         fi
 
-        response=$(curl -X POST -d "{\"instance_name\": \"${previewName}\", \"lifetime\": ${lifetime} ,\"env_vars\": {\"AUTO_LOAD_POD\": \"${autoLoadPod}\", \"EXTENSION_AUTO_INSTALL\": \"${extensionAutoInstall}\"}}"\
+        response=$(curl -X POST -d "{\"instance_name\": \"${previewName}\", \"lifetime\": ${lifetime}, \"env_vars\": ${envVarsJson}}"\
             -H "ls-api-key: ${LOCALSTACK_API_KEY:-${{ inputs.localstack-api-key }}}" \
             -H "content-type: application/json" \
             https://api.localstack.cloud/v1/compute/instances)